The Labour Deputy Leader and Hartlepool candidate talk about their energy plans for the town and power station.
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00:00 here with Angela Rayner at Hartlepool Power Station. Angela what's been the
00:03 purpose for your visit here today? Well it's been fantastic to visit Hartlepool
00:07 Power Station and to see the sense of community as well as the economic
00:11 footprint that this industry has here in Hartlepool. You know you can see the
00:15 real sense of community, the different generations that work here, the skills
00:20 that people have and the contribution it's making to our energy requirements
00:24 for the whole of the UK. It was inspiring to see that and as someone who's from the
00:29 north of England and you know the sense of that industry that we had once, you
00:34 can see that alive really well here and how it really contributes to the local
00:38 economy and to people here and the depth of history here because since
00:43 the 1950s nuclear energy has been, we've been world leaders in it and we've got
00:48 all of that knowledge and expertise here and they're continuing that with the
00:53 generations of workers that are from the local area so it was great to be here
00:57 and you know I want to see this industry thriving and we want to see as we move
01:02 towards a clean superpower, energy superpower by 2030, I want to see
01:08 Hartlepool as a key component in that because we're uniquely placed here on
01:12 this site to be able to deliver on that. So what would Labour do for Hartlepool
01:17 in that respect if you were in power? Well one of the things we've said is the
01:21 Green Prosperity Plan, the £28 billion and the £500 million of capital
01:25 investment will come to places like Hartlepool. You're in a prime location to
01:30 deliver on our net zero targets by 2030 and to contribute towards our energy
01:36 supplies that we need so that we're self-reliant. At the moment we're at the
01:39 mercy of the market which is not good for security and it's also costing us in
01:43 terms of our energy prices so having places like Hartlepool at the centre of
01:48 our net zero targets will not only deliver the skilled jobs, it will deliver
01:52 on our prosperity programme which is our growth strategy for the UK which will pay
01:57 for our public services as well as delivering the jobs for the future.
02:01 Jonathan, you've been looking around, have you today as well with Angela?
02:05 Absolutely and listen, nuclear power is absolutely vital to Hartlepool. It's been part of our
02:10 heritage for a generation or more now. It's an iconic thing. No one who is from
02:15 Hartlepool like me doesn't recognise that building on our skylight and we want to
02:19 make nuclear power part of Hartlepool's future as well because it's so important that once
02:24 the life of this station comes to an end there's new nuclear, new investment
02:28 years so we can partner with our local colleges and schools to create the jobs
02:32 of the future so we can ensure that our economy grows going forward and look if
02:37 we get some long-term decision-making which is what Labour are planning and
02:40 Conservatives frankly have failed to do for a decade now, we can actually create
02:44 a 30-year plan that will grow our economy for generations to come.
02:49 That's what we need in Hartlepool. Nuclear is so important and if I become the MP for
02:52 Hartlepool I will absolutely shout it every single day for new investment in Hartlepool,
02:57 light new nuclear.